Heidi the cross-eyed opossum is a Facebook hit

Overweight animal at Leipzig zoo has inspired a YouTube song and has nearly 180,000 Facebook fans

• Emine Sinmaz
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 January 2011 19.57 GMT
• Article history



Heidi the cross-eyed opossum at Leipzig zoo has become an unlikely internet sensation. Photograph: Sebastian Willnow/AP

Cross-eyed and overweight, Heidi the opossum is, perhaps, the unlikeliest of stars, but that is exactly what she has become – an internet sensation.

She shot to fame after a report was published on her home, Leipzig zoo in Germany. She has since inspired a YouTube song and attracted nearly 180,000 Facebook fans, making her more popular than the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, who has a mere 65,000.

Heidi's poor vision – thanks to her bulging eyes – has struck a chord with the public, but zookeepers say it does not cause many problems. As opossums are nocturnal they rely heavily on their sense of smell to find their way around. She experiences no discomfort and has no problem interacting with other opossums.

Heidi is currently on a high-fibre, low-calorie diet, as her weight problem could be behind her condition.

Heidi and her sister Naira, who arrived at the zoo last May after being abandoned in North Carolina, are acclimatising before appearing in public in the zoo's tropical experience attraction in July.

Peter Walschburger, a biological psychologist at the Free University of Berlin, has analysed the unprecedented attention the opossum has attracted.

He said: "It triggers a reaction in our unconsciousness when we see these creatures that make us think of children."